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SDSU Taps Populous for Football Stadium Design

San Diego State University is turning to Populous to come up with a conceptual design for a new football stadium.

On Thursday, SDSU revealed that it has retained the Kansas City-based firm to generate a conceptual plan for a new facility. The school’s football program finds itself in limbo for the coming years, as its agreement to use SDCCU Stadium only runs through the 2018 season and discussions over the future of the existing facility and surrounding land continue.

Populous will work on the design of a stadium that could host SDSU football, MLS, and potentially be expanded to accommodate the NFL if San Diego ever lands a team. The designs and other details behind the proposal should surface in the coming months, according to athletic director John David Wicker. More from The San Diego Union-Tribune:

“We haven’t had discussions with MLS,” Wicker said. “We have had discussions with entities who have been or are directly involved with MLS that think if we built a stadium, they could potentially bring an MLS team to San Diego.

“Obviously, the FS group has exclusivity right now. But if the stadium gets built and meets MLS standards, and MLS wants to award a franchise to San Diego, I’d assume they’d ask the FS group first. If the FS group says no, then they’d move onto the next group.”

In the meantime, Wicker and the university will move onto their stadium study. He hopes to have renderings and a cost projection by Dec. 1, and how it fits into a master plan for campus expansion in Mission Valley by early 2018.

It will seat 35,000 and be built for college football. And for pro soccer.

SDSU was at one point in negotiations to share the stadium included in SoccerCity, but ceased discussions earlier this year.